Lisa Chow, M.D.

The United States is seeing an alarming increase in the prevalence of obesity and type 2 diabetes in children. Also rising, particularly among obese adolescents, is the prevalence of metabolic syndrome, characterized by dyslipidemia, abdominal obesity, hypertension, and impaired glucose tolerance. These conditions may be associated with multiple cardiovascular risk factors and atherosclerosis—a relationship which Lisa Chow, M.D., is investigating with hopes for better treatment and prevention. Chow is a scholar in CAPS, the Career Advancement Program for Clinical Research Scholars, an NIH-funded K12 program.

As an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolism in the Medical School’s Department of Medicine, Chow’s research focuses on defining the influence of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and insulin resistance on cardiovascular risk factors in young adults. As a CAPS scholar, Chow has been allocated 80 percent protected time to conduct research, working closely with three mentors: Elizabeth Seaquist, M.D., professor, Department of Medicine, Medical School; Michael Garwood, M.D., professor, Department of Radiology, Medical School; and, Lynn Eberly, Ph.D., associate professor, Division of Biostatistics, School of Public Health.

As skeletal muscle is the largest utilizer of glucose in the body, Chow is interested in the effects of dysfunction in skeletal muscle metabolism and how this may contribute to insulin resistance. To do this, Chow will work with Garwood using a new, non-invasive procedure involving magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to measure muscle metabolism in vivo. She will compare the results of this method with results obtained from standard needle biopsies. The goal is to have a better understanding on the cause of insulin resistance, the skeletal muscle effects of various therapies (such as diet and exercise) which improve insulin resistance, and ultimately, to develop new therapies which will improve insulin resistance.

Given the growing epidemic of obesity, diabetes, and the metabolic syndrome, of which insulin resistance is a major component, Chow hopes that this knowledge will help alleviate, if not prevent, the complications associated with these chronic conditions.